Bach's Chinese Rail Tour : June 3, 2013 Beijing – Temple of Heaven and our flight back to Detroit.

June 3, 2013

Beijing – Temple of Heaven and our flight back to Detroit.

Our Beijing guide, Lee came to get us at 9:00 AM for a tour of the Temple of Heaven in the morning and to take us to the airport after lunch to catch our plane departing at 4:50 PM.

The Temple of Heaven was constructed between 1406 and 1420 during the time of Yongle Emperor. It covers an impressive area of 2.73 square kilometers and during the time of the emperors was exclusively used by the emperors for praying for good harvests and peace. Now it is being used by the people as a park that they can come exercise, play card and board games with their friends and for people to see the historical buildings that include:

The Hall of Good Harvest that is a decorative circular building that is 36 meters in diameter and 36 meters high where the emperor would pray for good harvest.

The Imperial Vault of Heaven that is similar to the Hall of Good Harvests but is smaller. It is surrounded by a circular echo wall that we tried and it still works very well.

The Circular Mound Altar is the altar proper that was built by the Jiajing Emperor in 1530 and rebuilt in 1740. It is an open area with 3 levels and built of marble in a circular pattern. The emperor would stand on a circular stone about a meter in diameter in the center and his voice would reflect from the circular railing of the top level. This way he would hear his words when he was praying. The circular pattern in the alter represents heaven and the square wall surrounding the circular wall of the alter represents earth.

After lunch we went to the airport to catch our direct flight of 6,675 miles to Detroit. We returned as we came on the great circle route over Russia, Alaska, Beaufort Sea, the Great Slave Lake, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan and finally Detroit. We were about an hour late leaving Beijing but had a tail wind of between 24 mph to 104 mph that reduced out late arrival to 30 minutes in Detroit.

We had a great time during our 3 weeks in China but were really happy when we got home.

Morning exercises in the grounds of the Temple of Heaven. A video is in the next picture. Just click on the arrow to start it.

Our Guide, Lee explaining the map of the grounds of the Temple of Heaven.

Dorothy and Lee in the covered walkway leading to the Temple of Heaven. Note the people playing board and card games at the side.

The beautifully decorated Hall of Good Harvest.

Dorothy and Con in front of the Hall of Good Harvest.

Dorothy and Con in front of the museum at the Temple of Heaven.

A very old vessel in the museum at the Temple of Heaven.

An impressive statue in the museum at the Temple of Heaven.

Many people were visiting the Hall of Good Harvest.

The outdoor cooking vessel that was used for preparing the food at the Temple of Heaven.

The gate leading to the Imperial Vault of Heaven.

Lee and Dorothy in front of the Imperial Vault of Heaven.

People exercising in the trees on the grounds of the Temple of Heaven.

Dorothy and Con if front of the Imperial Vault of Heaven. At the back of the Imperial Vault of Heaven is the Echo Wall.

Beautiful ceremonial vessels at the Imperial Vault of Heaven.

Con praying on the stone that the emperor would stand on to say his prayers for a good harvest at the Circular Mound Altar.

Dorothy and Con on the emperor's stone at the Circular Mound Altar.

The circular railing around the Circular Mound Altar that designated heaven. The square wall in the background designated earth.

The view from the Circular Mound Altar looking back to the Imperial Vault of Heaven.

The Imperial Vault of Heaven with the gates to the Circular Mound Altar in the foreground.

Dorothy and Con in front of the gates to the Circular Mound Altar with the Altar in the background.

Our Guide, Lee on the road from the Circular Mound Altar to the entrance gate of the Temple of Heaven where we were to meet our car to take us to lunch and then to the airport.